Internet-connected appliances were used in a massive attack on the sites of Russian financial institutions. The attack is suspected to be organized by a hacker from USA or Europe.

A network of thousands of intelligent home appliances attacked the sites of Russian financial institutions. In particular, the attack was carried out by toasters, Internet cameras, coffee makers and communications equipment. In total, the attack could have involved at least half a million devices, stated a report by “Kaspersky Lab” – a leading Russian and global cyber security firm.

Likely the attack was planned by hackers outside of Russia, according to “Kaspersky Lab”. The identity of the hacker, was not released. The hacker has previously announced the intention to strike at Russian financial institutions, explaining the intention by the fact that, in his opinion, Russian hackers actively intervened in U.S. presidential election.

In December, Rostelecom announced about observed attacks on major banking and financial institutions. The attack, according to the statement, was carried out by household communication devices. The attacks had a duration from several minutes to several hours.

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Earlier the FSB announced that foreign intelligence agencies plan to use hackers to destabilize the Russian financial system. According to the Ministry, coordination is conducted from the Netherlands.

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Wiki: Kaspersky Lab is a Russian multinational cybersecurity and anti-virus provider headquartered in Moscow, Russia. It was founded in 1997 by Eugene Kaspersky who is currently the CEO. Kaspersky expanded internationally from 2005-2010 and grew to more than $700 million in annual revenues by 2014. As of 2016, the software has about 400 million users and has the largest market-share of cybersecurity software vendors in Europe. Kaspersky Lab ranks fourth in the global ranking of antivirus vendors by revenue.

Analysts stay suspicions about the firm’s Russian roots and controversy over disputed ties with Russian intelligence have hindered its expansion in the United States.

According to the International New York Times, Kaspersky has “become one of Russia’s most recognized high-tech exports, but its market share in the United States has been hampered by its origins.”

Beginning around 2010, Kaspersky exposed a series of government-sponsored cyber-espionage and sabotage efforts. These include Stuxnet, Duqu, Flame, Gauss, Regin and the Equation Group. According to WIRED, “many of them were seemingly launched by the US and its UK and Israeli allies. Kaspersky is especially well-known for its work uncovering Stuxnet and Flame.

In 2010 Kaspersky Lab worked with Microsoft to counter-act the Stuxnet worm, which had infected 14 industrial locations in Iran using four zero-day vulnerabilities in Microsoft Windows. According to IEEE Spectrum, the circumstances “strongly suggest” the worm was developed by the United States and Israel to damage centrifuges in Iran’s nuclear-enrichment program. It was the first discovery of a major government-sponsored cyber-attack.